Latest news with #TahliaMcGrath
Int'l Cricket Council
20-03-2025
- Sport
- Int'l Cricket Council
McGrath eyes strong finish to season against New Zealand
Tahlia McGrath, who has stepped into the leadership role in the absence of regular captain Alyssa Healy, is relishing the opportunity to guide the team alongside vice-captain Ash Gardner. 'I'm really excited for the opportunity to lead the side again," McGrath told reporters ahead of the first T20I in Auckland. "I always enjoy working with Ash [Gardner] as vice-captain as well, and for us as a group, just really excited to kick off what's been a long season for us and hopefully finish on a high with a series win over here in New Zealand." With Australia's attention largely on the upcoming ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in India later this year, the three T20Is present a unique challenge to McGrath's side. However, the skipper sees them as a valuable chance to refine their approach in the shortest format. 'It's an odd one for us. Just three T20s at this stage, with our focus being at a 50-over World Cup and also a bit of a break. 'But it's also a really good opportunity for us, with not many T20s on the international schedule before the World Cup coming up soon. Every time we get to pull on the Australian shirt, it's always a really good opportunity to go out there and keep getting better as a group.' Read: Australia bracing for 'full strength' T20 World Cup champions New Zealand Australia come into the series on the back of a thumping Women's Ashes series sweep against England, where they came out on top in every single game across the three formats. McGrath expects a stern challenge from a near full-strength New Zealand side, with T20 World Cup winning big names, Sophie Devine, Melie Kerr and Lea Tahuhu making a return to the White Ferns' squad. 'They're pretty much back at full strength, New Zealand. We're expecting a really hard-fought contest, hopefully a nice crowd being double headers, and hopefully a few Aussies in the crowd. But we're going to have to be at our best. "They've got some world-class players - Devine, Kerr, Tahuhu - all back in the side, and superstars throughout their list. We're going to be at our best and really looking forward to the challenge. Just can't wait to get started tomorrow.' Australia have built a reputation for playing an aggressive and fearless brand of cricket over the years, an approach that has fetched them global honours over the years, and McGrath intends to continue. 'We're always talking about how we can get better. There is no limit to our game. Really looking forward to taking the game on, playing our style, playing our brand of cricket, and like I said, finishing the season on a high is what's in front of mind for most of us.' 'Brave, fearless, aggressive. We bat so deep that we can showcase our talent, play with no fear, knowing that if it doesn't come off, there's someone ready to walk out to the wicket to do the job. And same with the ball - attacking field sets, attacking mindset, aggressive nature. And yeah, just trying to push the game forward as much as we can.' The series opener will mark a significant milestone for Beth Mooney, who is set to play her 200th international match for Australia, and McGrath was full of praise for the wicketkeeper-batter's immense contribution to the team. 'Crazy milestone for Moons [Beth Mooney]. 200 games representing your country is a very special achievement. 'She's the ultimate consistent performer. She gets us off to a brilliant start every time with the bat. She flies under the radar a bit, and she stepped up for us this year with the gloves, and has played a really good role for us there. 'She's a great team person, always looking out for her teammates. I'm really excited to take the field with her tomorrow and celebrate such a special milestone.' Australia superstar Tahlia McGrath unites with her ICC Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year award. With several in-form players in the squad, Australia faces the enviable challenge of fitting a wealth of talent into the playing XI. McGrath was particularly excited for some of the newer names in the setup. 'It's a blessing and a curse when you got so much talent in the squad and you're trying to fit it into 11. 'Really excited for Volly [Georgia Voll], who, every time she's put on the Australian shirt, she's shown why she's capable at this level. Really excited for Nick [Nicole Faltum], her first Australian tour, she's slotted in straight away, like she's been part of the group forever. "So much opportunity with people to play potentially some different roles and stand up at different points throughout the series.' Series schedule: 1st T20I, March 21, Eden Park 2nd T20I, March 23, Bay Oval 3rd T20I, March 26, Wellington Regional Stadium Australia Women News Women's News Tahlia McGrath 11/10/1995
The Guardian
20-03-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Australia face T20 world champions New Zealand in unfamiliar role of hunter
The road to redemption is one that the Australia women's cricket team has rarely had to travel down in recent times. The all-conquering side won all three T20 World Cups and the only Cricket World Cup since 2017 before heading into the shortest format's global showpiece last year. That streak was shattered by South Africa's shock semi-final win over the three-time defending T20 World Cup champions, although the first signs of cracks started to appear after Australia claimed their sixth crown in the format in early 2023. An unusually meagre six victories in 11 T20Is after that final arguably put a dent in Australia's aura, at least until the side went on an all-too familiar tear with 11 wins on the trot before South Africa's sudden intervention. It has been little surprise to see Australia respond to their relatively early exit at the T20 World Cup with a ruthless run of results. Five emphatic victories in ODIs against India and New Zealand were followed by the first Women's Ashes series sweep as Australia won all seven clashes with arch-rivals England across the three formats. Australia can take another step toward righting their perceived wrongs when they travel to play three T20Is in New Zealand against the side that turned around a horror 10-match losing streak heading into the T20 World Cup last year to beat South Africa in the final. The role of the hunter is unfamiliar to this Australia team and one they are already plotting how to escape from ahead of a Cricket World Cup this October and the next T20 global tournament just over a year away. 'They're the world champions and that's what we want to be,' Tahlia McGrath, Australia's captain for the three-match series, said. 'There is a little bit extra on the line for us. We want to go out there and play some really good cricket and come away with, ideally, a 3-0 series win against the world champs.' McGrath will take the reins in Alyssa Healy's absence as the keeper-batter sits out the quick-fire series to continue her recovery from a lingering foot injury that interrupted her Ashes campaign. All-rounder McGrath led Australia to a 3-0 sweep during the T20 leg of the Ashes series, while rising star Georgia Voll is set to take Healy's place in the batting lineup again just as she did in three white-ball matches and the pink-ball Test against England. The 21-year-old Voll could hardly have been more impressive in seven internationals since making her debut in an ODI against India last December as Australia continue to find top-end talent to seamlessly replenish their side with. New Zealand will also turn to an emerging batter with Bella James overcoming a quad injury to be in the frame for her first T20 after playing a pair of ODIs against Australia late last year. The White Ferns welcome back T20 World Cup-winning captain Sophie Devine, star all-rounder Melie Kerr as well as Lea Tahuhu and Georgia Plimmer for the three T20s starting on Friday. Devine has given up the T20 captaincy since lifting the trophy in Dubai and along with Kerr missed the home white-ball series against Sri Lanka to freshen up. 'They're pretty much back at full strength and have got some world-class players in their side,' McGrath said. 'Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates and Melie Kerr can take the game away from any opposition. 'But we're blessed with talent too and really excited to see what we can do. Georgia is the latest to come in and has had an unbelievable six months. Every time she's pulled on the Australian shirt, she's done a job for us, she's already got an international [ODI] hundred, and she's on some red-hot form coming from the WPL.' Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion The ongoing influx of talent has forced McGrath's role to change as the likes of Annabel Sutherland, Phoebe Litchfield and Darcie Brown entrench their places in the side. The 29-year-old is now more likely to slot into the lower order of the batting line-up and has not bowled more than a couple of overs, if any, in T20Is over the past 18 months. Taking a back seat with bat and ball is allowing McGrath to focus more on guiding the side, and especially the handful of younger players, as they work towards the Cricket World Cup in India later this year and T20 World Cup in England next June. 'The style of cricket that we want to play doesn't change too much between 50-over and T20 cricket,' McGrath says. 'We want to take the game on, we want to be aggressive and fearless. 'Any chance we get to practice that style of play, get better, is one that we want to take with every opportunity. We go on a break after this but it's really important to stay switched on and get a lot out of these there T20s. It would be nice to finish a long season on a high.'
Int'l Cricket Council
26-02-2025
- Sport
- Int'l Cricket Council
Aussies unveil new name in their 14-player squad for Kiwis T20I tour
Preparations are clicking into place for Australia, as the countdown to their tour of New Zealand continues. It's now under a month until they'll meet the Kiwis in the first of three T20Is, with the opener booked in for March 21 at Eden Park, Auckland. The world's top-ranked Women's T20I outfit have named a 14-player squad which includes the replacement of - the frankly irreplaceable - Alyssa Healy, who continues to recover from a foot injury suffered last month, during her side's successful Ashes defence. Tahlia McGrath will captain the team in Healy's absence, while 24-year-old Victorian Nicole Faltum will be in the mix as the team's wicket-keeper (along with versatile batting veteran Beth Mooney). Faltum is no stranger to cricket's short format, having played in the last eight editions of Australia's domestic T20 competition, the WBBL. She is also an accomplished lower-order hitter. In-form all-rounder Ash Gardner will work as McGrath's deputy for the series. Tahlia McGrath might be No.1 in the T20I batting rankings but has the 'golden arm' to do just as much damage with the ball at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023 'It's exciting to be able to bring Nicole into the squad, she's been a consistent performer over a long period of time and will provide a strong back-up option to Beth who will take the gloves during the series,' Australian selector Shawn Flegler said in a release. 'While Beth was brilliant during the Ashes in Alyssa's absence, it's important we're continuing to look to the future and Nicole is certainly someone who we can see wearing the green and gold for a long period of time.' Australia squad for Women's Tour of New Zealand: Tahlia McGrath (c), Ash Gardner (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicole Faltum, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham Australian Women's Tour of New Zealand: 21 March: Eden Park, Auckland 23 March: Bay Oval, Tauranga 26 March: Sky Stadium, Wellington Australian captain Meg Lanning and her team celebrated in style as they lifted the trophy at Newlands in Cape Town after beating South Africa in the final of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup.
